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Regulatory Cleanup in Brazil

September 28, 2003

In a move likely to please investors, Brazilian Finance Minister Ant?nio Palocci has promised to streamline government regulation of newly privatized industries such as telecommunications, power, and oil.

Investors have spent $80 billion buying privatized Brazilian companies since the mid-1990s. But some got their fingers burned because sales went ahead before regulations were in place. A row erupted earlier this year when the Communications Ministry tried to hold up rises in phone charges agreed to in earlier contracts. "We want to guarantee to investors that contracts will be respected," Palocci told BusinessWeek on Sept. 15. EDITED BY Edited by Rose Brady